Chapter 27

chapter 27

Maeve

Hyacinth really liked Lizzie’s bite, enough that she allows us to sleep well into the afternoon instead of kicking us out at dawn. It’s nice to wake in a bed with Lizzie. Really nice. I turn onto my side and study my vampire. Most people look younger when they sleep, but not Lizzie. She doesn’t look more innocent, either. But there’s still something in her that relaxes. The fact that she trusts me enough to allow me to witness it feels like a gift I’ll spend the rest of my life cherishing. Even long after she’s gone.

I didn’t mean for my jealousy to slip its leash last night. I certainly didn’t expect said jealousy to make the sex hotter. My heart feels strangely bruised, but I can’t begin to say why. Lizzie has made no promises to me. Yes, her determination not to hurt me seems to suggest she cares, but that ultimately changes nothing.

Except it feels like something changed, as if some piece clicked into place, as if we crossed a point of no return that I hadn’t noticed. I don’t know what it means. I don’t even know how to ask if she feels it, too.

Lizzie’s a natural predator, so it doesn’t take long for her to sense my attention. She blinks her eyes open, instantly awake. “You were watching me sleep.”

“Only a little.”

She stretches slowly, her gaze tracking to the bright blue sky outside the window. “It’s well past dawn.” Lizzie sighs. “Shall we take bets on whether the ship has sailed off without us?”

I want to reassure her that Alix wouldn’t do that, but the truth is I have no idea. They hardly wanted Lizzie as interim captain, for all that they’re getting a promotion as soon as we leave the crew. It would stand to reason that they’d speed said promotion along by leaving us behind the first chance they got. “No bet.”

“Thought as much.” She gives one last stretch and then sits up. “I think we’ve abused Hyacinth’s hospitality long enough, even if we paid for the privilege. Let’s get moving.”

I clamp my lips shut on the protest that rises within me. I don’t want to get moving. I want to stay in this strange moment of in-between forever. As soon as we leave this room, the real world will come rushing in, reminding me Lizzie will never be mine in any meaningful way.

There’s a very real chance that when she leaves, she’ll take a piece of my heart with her.

We dress in comfortable silence that grows more tense as the seconds tick by. When Lizzie opens the door and I follow her down the stairs and out onto the street, it almost feels like last night never happened. Until she grabs my elbow and uses her hold to spin me around and press me against the wall.

She steps close, the heat of her enveloping me. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Last night meant something to me, the same way it meant something to you. We have to focus on business now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going back to dancing around each other, as skittish as maidens. I’ve gotten over my guilt. So have you. Let’s move on together.”

Just like that. Lizzie isn’t one to linger on things she finds uncomfortable. I swallow hard. “Okay.”

She gives me a look like she isn’t quite convinced, but she just takes my hand and leads me toward the lift to descend to the bay. “First, we need to check to see if the ship’s still there. The local taverns won’t be occupied by more than the hard-core locals at this time of day. We’ll find you some food and then figure out next steps from there.”

Down in the bay, I’m pleasantly surprised to discover that the Serpent’s Cry hasn’t sailed away without us. In fact, Alix stands on the docks, deep in conversation with two people, their hoods pulled forward on their faces. They look at us as we approach, and the strangers break away, headed in the opposite direction. I stomp down on the curiosity fluttering in my chest. It’s none of our business. The most important thing is that Alix is still here.

Alix crosses their wings over their chest and gives us a severe look. “So. You’re still alive.”

“Is there a reason we wouldn’t be?” Lizzie tenses as if she’s going to attack. I place my hand on the center of her back, urging her to patience.

They shrug. “A person came by asking questions. Pointed questions. The kind that make people like me nervous.”

Now it’s my turn to tense. No one should even know we’re here, let alone where to start asking questions. “C?n Annwn?”

“If they were, they were undercover. Not a crimson piece of clothing in sight. They also didn’t feel like those bastards.” Alix sighs. “Look, I have no issue with you—at least in theory. I’ve made some good trades already on Drash, enough that we’ll likely incorporate this into our route going forward. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re not a vessel equipped to hunt in the way that you need.”

It’s nothing more than they’ve said from the moment we came aboard, but I respect them for saying it to our face instead of sneaking off in the dead of night. I tap my fingers on Lizzie’s back and move to step in front of her. “So this is goodbye.”

Alix’s gaze flicks over my shoulder to Lizzie. “That would be my preference. There are enough ships that come through Drash that you should be able to book passage once you know where you’re headed.”

I can actually feel Lizzie tense behind me, but she stays silent. There’s an element of trust there that I’m not sure I know what to do with, but there’s no time to examine it now. “We just need our things from your ship and then you can be on your way.” It will likely be days before we find any information—if there’s even information to be found. A ship like the Serpent’s Cry requires constant movement to be effective. Lingering too long in one place is a great way to have people asking questions that they don’t want to answer.

Alix and the rest of their crew didn’t kill us in our sleep. It’s the bare minimum, but they could’ve at least tried. They chose not to. “Good luck on your travels.”

Alix visibly relaxes, though they give Lizzie another nervous look. “I took the courtesy of grabbing your stuff before I came to shore.” They hold up their wings and take a quick step back. “I wasn’t going to toss it. I fully intended to wait until you came looking. It’s just my good luck that you didn’t make me wait long.”

Lizzie is still tense enough that she obviously wants to attack. She doesn’t, though. She keeps her silence as we collect our bag and head back toward the lift. Lizzie’s jaw is set in a tight line, and her strides are sharp with anger. “I hope you have a good reason for letting them leave without us. We need that ship.”

“There are other ships. And don’t pretend like the thought of taking over another one doesn’t make you a little bit excited.”

She shoots me a sharp look. “It would make me more excited if you weren’t so cagey about letting me murder the people who stand in our way.”

Despite everything, I laugh. “Let’s just see how it goes.”

We find an inn on the next level up and pay for a night’s stay. Then I give in to Lizzie’s pestering to eat until she’s satisfied I’m not going to pass out from lack of nourishment. By that point, the sun is once again sinking toward the horizon. The taverns will be bustling with the dinner crowd, and then the drinking will begin, which means people won’t be watching their tongues as closely.

It’s time to begin asking our questions.

I survey our options and decide to start with a tiny tavern on the first level near the docks. It’s the obvious choice for sailors just washing in. “Let me do the talking. You scare people.” She glares and I point at her face. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, you get that look on your face like you’re going to start ripping out throats, and people get nervous.”

“Ripping out throats is my favorite pastime.” But she relents immediately. “You might as well tell me the plan of attack.”

“Once again, no attacking. No murder. No bar fights. Nothing that’s going to make our welcome on Drash shift.” I tuck my hair behind my ears. “There’s two plans of attack, so to speak. We talk to the sailors. Most of them aren’t locals and so pass through, some with regularity and some without, but they’ll have the most recent rumors about the C?n Annwn. Then we talk to the barkeeps. They see every single person who comes through their doors. If the Crimson Hag has been in these waters, they’ll know it.” The trick is charming them into parting with that information without needing to delve into our dwindling stash of money. I know who the rebellion contacts are on the two closest islands to Viedna, but there was no reason to give me the information about islands farther afield. Especially when it could mean a security risk. I might be able to find whoever locally support the rebellion, but there’s no guarantee. We have to make the money last.

Lizzie raises her eyebrows. “That seems deceptively simple.”

“Because it is a deceptively simple plan. Putting it into action is significantly more complicated. Sailors love to talk, but every person in Threshold fears the C?n Annwn. If they think for a second that we mean the crew of the Crimson Hag harm, we won’t be able to get a single piece of information out of them. Not because they’re loyal, but because they’re afraid of the consequences coming back onto them and their people.”

Lizzie braids her hair back with smooth, practiced movements. It leaves her face on display, and it’s almost too much beauty for me to think straight. I expected to be inoculated to her presence after all this time together, but moments like these strike me all over again, and I’m rendered speechless.

Not that she seems to notice. She finishes braiding her hair and frowns. “It’s interesting to hear the perception of the C?n Annwn from someone who isn’t Bowen. I don’t understand how someone so disgustingly honorable spent so long wrapped up in such a corrupt system.”

From what I gather, Bowen is the exception to the rule. Honorable C?n Annwn are certainly not my experience. “He didn’t choose to be part of their group any more than most people do. And, to hear tell of it, the last captain of his ship, Ezra, was a lot like him.” That was before my time gathering information for the rebellion, but when my mother indulges in more than her usual amount of wine, she’s been known to wax poetic about Ezra. A member of the C?n Annwn with honor? It defies belief. The only exceptions I’ve seen are people who actively participate in the rebellion. Like Nox.

“I won’t pretend to be some paragon, but at least my family doesn’t run around terrorizing entire civilizations.” She says it slowly, almost as if musing to herself. “The C?n Annwn truly are evil.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to point out that participating in the rebellion would ensure a significant amount of murder, certainly enough to satisfy her more violent impulses. Surely that’s reason enough for her to stay.

But I don’t. Even making that comment in jest reeks of manipulation. Lizzie has no interest in the rebellion or staying in Threshold longer than strictly necessary.

What if she asked me to come with her?

The thought slips free before I have a chance to smother it. And then it’s there, sitting in the center of my brain and demanding a response. I turn away from Lizzie, angry at myself for even contemplating it. She’s not going to ask me to come with her, and even if she did, what would that even look like?

My place is here. In Threshold. Fighting against a corrupt system. Or at least informing for those who are fighting. When this hunt for Lizzie’s family heirlooms is over, I’ll return to Viedna and resume my place in my family’s tavern. I’ll smile and charm the C?n Annwn who come through our doors and milk them for every piece of information they have access to. And then I’ll turn around and report it to the rebellion. And some day, hopefully within my lifetime, we’ll take down the Council and the corrupt crews and establish a new, just system in Threshold.

With such a higher purpose, it is the height of selfishness to even consider leaving.

Not to mention the fact that Lizzie hasn’t asked me to come with her and shows no indication of doing so. I’m living in a fantasy, and it’s only hurting my own feelings.

“Maeve?”

I clear my throat, swallowing past the burning that takes up residence behind my eyes. I have the rest of my life to mourn the loss of Lizzie. I’m not going to start while she’s still with me. When I turn around, I have my smile firmly in place. “Let’s get started.”